Robredo: Department of Migrant Workers needs LGU-level migrant resource centers

Migrant resource centers at the local government level must complement the newly created Department of Migrant Workers, Vice President Leni Robredo said Monday.

Robredo, who is running for president in 2022 polls, made the call during an online meeting with at least 465 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Asia and the Pacific and Oceania.

"In their two-hour meeting, Robredo said that Republic Act No. 11641 or the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Act, signed by President Duterte in December last year, was a step towards the full-cycle protection of OFWs. If elected to office, she would complement RA 11641 with an executive order mandating the creation of Migrant Resource Centers in every local government unit, patterned after the Naga City Migrant Resource Center," Robredo's office said in a statement.

“Yung social cost ng pag-aalis, grabe yung sakripisyo diba? Yung sa inyo [overseas Filipinos] at sa families niyo. Grabe yung sakripisyo. Nung nag-aabogado pa po ako, marami ako kliyente na mga OFWs. Ang shina-share nila, may hinanakit na: ‘Hindi naiintindihan ng family ko yung gaano kahirap yung buhay ko dito. Maraming demands sa akin. A migrant resource center will be able to bridge this gap," Robredo added.

(Working abroad has a social cost, and it takes a lot of sacrifice both on the side of OFWs and their families. When I was a practicing lawyer, I had OFW clients who told me that their families could not understand how hard their life was abroad and tend to make a lot of demands. A migrant resource center will be able to bridge this gap.)

The Vice President then said that the Naga City Migrant Resource Center has been able to provide tremendous support to OFW families, but she still wants to harness its potential, noting that there are areas and opportunities for improvement for this kind of hub for OFW families.

She added that she would also tap the private sector partners of her flagship program, Angat Buhay, to support, mentor and guide returning OFWs and their families to ensure them a path towards meaningful social and economic reintegration in line with local and national development.

Likewise, Robredo also vowed to have gender-responsive programs and services to Filipino women in all stages of migration, recognizing the vulnerabilities of female OFWs to gender-based violence, especially domestic workers.

Under the law, the Department of Migrant Workers will absorb all functions and mandates of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and will be the primary agency under the Executive branch of the government tasked to protect the rights and promote the welfare of OFWs and other overseas Filipinos.

Likewise, the measure provides the department will formulate, plan, coordinate, promote, administer, and implement policies, and undertake systems for regulating, managing, and monitoring the overseas employment of Filipino workers and reintegration of OFWs and other Overseas Filipinos, while taking into consideration the national development programs formulated by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Robredo's office said that as of 2019, there are 10.2 million overseas Filipinos across 200 destination countries and territories.

Of this figure, 4.8 million are permanent migrants or overseas Filipinos, 4.2 million are temporary migrants or OFWs or contract based, and 1.2 million are irregular migrations. — BM, GMA News